Time- and/or frequency-domain coordinated scheduling and beamforming

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one memory including computer program code; and

at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, are arranged to cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising:

coupling respective portions of a transmission resource to fixed beams in a 1:1 relationship such that the portions coupled to different fixed beams do not overlap, wherein the transmission resource is foreseen for transmission by the cell, each of the fixed beams is defined by a fixed beam weight vector, and a number of the fixed beams is predefined and equal to or larger than 2;

allocating one of the fixed beams and the portion of the transmission resource coupled to the one of the fixed beams to a terminal; and

configuring a transmitting device to transmit to the terminal in the fixed beam and the portion of the transmission resource allocated to the terminal, wherein coupling performs at least one of the following operations:

coupling the portions of the transmission resource and fixed beams based on a received information about neighbor portions of the transmission resource coupled to neighbor fixed beams of a neighboring cell such that mutual interference with the neighboring cell is minimized;

coupling a largest one of the portions to a middle beam of the fixed beams, wherein at least one of the other fixed beams is spatially located between the middle beam and a border of the cell; and

coupling the respective portion of the transmission resource to the respective fixed beam based on measurement related to interference and/or data rates of UEs.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, are further arranged to cause the apparatus to at least perform operations comprising:

informing a control device about the fixed beams and their coupled portions of the transmission resource.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the control device is comprised by one of an operation and maintenance center and a base station not comprising the apparatus.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission resource is at least one of a transmission bandwidth and the portion is a subband, and a transmission time frame and the portion is a subframe.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, are further arranged to cause the apparatus to at least perform operations comprising at least one of the following:

defining the respective portions of the transmission resource based on at least one of load information of the cell, load information of a neighbor cell neighbored to the cell, and load information of the respective fixed beam; and

defining the respective portions of the transmission resource based on a feedback report received from the terminal.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, are further arranged to cause the apparatus to at least perform operations comprising one of the following:

scheduling a time for the a transmission to the terminal before the terminal is allocated to the one of the fixed beams; and

scheduling a time for the transmission to the terminal after the terminal is allocated to the one of the fixed beams.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, are further arranged to cause the apparatus to at least perform operations comprising:

monitoring required sizes of the portions of the transmission resource required for the transmission to terminals for each of the fixed beams;

comparing, for each of the fixed beams, the required size with a respective balanced size of the portion,

wherein the allocating is configured to allocate a portion of the required size to each of the fixed beams where the required size is equal to or less than the respective balanced size, and to allocate the remaining part of the transmission resource to the fixed beams where the required size is larger than the respective balanced size.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, are further arranged to cause the apparatus to at least perform operations comprising:

scheduling a time for respective transmissions to plural terminals,

wherein the allocating allocates respective fixed beams and the coupled portion of the transmission resource to the plural terminals, wherein the coupled portion is the same for each of the plural terminals.

9. A method comprising:

coupling respective portions of a transmission resource to fixed beams in a 1:1 relationship such that the portions coupled to different fixed beams do not overlap, wherein the transmission resource is foreseen for transmission by the cell, each of the fixed beams is defined by a fixed beam weight vector, and a number of the fixed beams is predefined and equal to or larger than 2;

allocating one of the fixed beams and the portion of the transmission resource coupled to the one of the fixed beams to a terminal; and

configuring a transmitting device to transmit to the terminal in the fixed beam and the portion of the transmission resource allocated to the terminal, wherein

the coupling is configured to couple the portions of the transmission resource and fixed beams based on a received information about neighbor portions of the transmission resource coupled to neighbor fixed beams of a neighboring cell such that mutual interference with the neighboring cell is minimized;

the coupling is configured to couple a largest one of the portions to a middle beam of the fixed beams, wherein at least one of the other fixed beams is spatially located between the middle beam and a border of the cell; and

the coupling is configured to couple the respective portion of the transmission resource to the respective fixed beam based on measurement related to interference and/or data rates of UEs.

10. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

informing a control device about the fixed beams and their coupled portions of the transmission resource.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the control device is comprised by one of an operation and maintenance center and a base station not comprising an apparatus performing the method.

12. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the transmission resource is at least one of a transmission bandwidth and the portion is a subband, and a transmission time frame and the portion is a subframe.

13. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising at least one of:

defining the respective portions of the transmission resource based on at least one of load information of the cell, load information of a neighbor cell neighbored to the cell, and load information of the respective fixed beam; and

defining the respective portions of the transmission resource based on a feedback report received from the terminal.

14. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising one of:

scheduling a time for a transmission to the terminal before the terminal is allocated to the one of the fixed beams; and

scheduling a time for the transmission to the terminal after the terminal is allocated to the one of the fixed beams.

15. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

monitoring required sizes of the portions of the transmission resource required for the transmission to terminals for each of the fixed beams;

comparing, for each of the fixed beams, the required size with a respective balanced size of the portion,

wherein the allocating is configured to allocate a portion of the required size to each of the fixed beams where the required size is equal to or less than the respective balanced size, and to allocate the remaining part of the transmission resource to the fixed beams where the required size is larger than the respective balanced size.

16. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

scheduling a time for respective transmissions to plural terminals,

wherein the allocating is configured to allocate respective fixed beams and the coupled portion of the transmission resource to the plural terminals, wherein the coupled portion is the same for each of the plural terminals.

17. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions which, when executed on an apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to carry out operations comprising:

coupling respective portions of a transmission resource to fixed beams in a 1:1 relationship such that the portions coupled to different fixed beams do not overlap, wherein the transmission resource is foreseen for transmission by the cell, each of the fixed beams is defined by a fixed beam weight vector, and a number of the fixed beams is predefined and equal to or larger than 2;

allocating one of the fixed beams and the portion of the transmission resource coupled to the one of the fixed beams to a terminal; and

configuring a transmitting device to transmit to the terminal in the fixed beam and the portion of the transmission resource allocated to the terminal, wherein

the coupling is configured to couple the portions of the transmission resource and fixed beams based on a received information about neighbor portions of the transmission resource coupled to neighbor fixed beams of a neighboring cell such that mutual interference with the neighboring cell is minimized;

the coupling is configured to couple a largest one of the portions to a middle beam of the fixed beams, wherein at least one of the other fixed beams is spatially located between the middle beam and a border of the cell; and

the coupling is configured to couple the respective portion of the transmission resource to the respective fixed beam based on measurement related to interference and/or data rates of UEs.